Former Bayern Munich stalwart Thorsten Fink is open to a new adventure in the UAE as he looks for the next challenge of his coaching career.
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Fink, 47, left APOEL by mutual consent on Monday in a decision described as “difficult but necessary” by the club even though he had guided them to a two-point lead at the top of the Cypriot First Division with two games left and next week’s Cypriot Cup final. This move has made the former Hamburg and FC Basel boss available to accept a new post.
APOEL have released their manager, Thorsten Fink after just 20 games managed for the Nicosia team. #Cyprus
— Cyprus Football (@cyprusfooty) May 11, 2015
Despite already fielding several offers to return to central Europe, Fink – who made 150 Bundesliga appearances for FCB’s first team between 1997 and 2003 – is open to utilising his extensive expertise when taking on “a good adventure” in the Arabian Gulf League.
He said: “I know the level is going up and it is a very interesting league. A lot of good players play in the UAE.
“I have worked in Switzerland and Cyprus [as well as Germany], so it is a good adventure and good experience. I am always interested to learn a lot from new people and new mentalities – that is why it would be good for me to work in the Middle East.
“My aim is not only to work in the Bundesliga. I can work in any country. I have two or three European offers already, but we will see.”
Fink lifted four top-flight titles, three DFB-Pokal Cups and the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League while performing as an industrious central midfielder at Bayern.
Schooled in the exacting German method, he went on to shine brightest as a head coach with Switzerland’s Basel.
A glorious two-season spell saw both Swiss Super League titles claimed, also adding the 2009/10 Swiss Cup and 2011 Uhrencup to his collection.
Poached back to his native country by crisis-hit club Hamburg, he saved them from relegation in his first campaign, recorded a much-improved seventh finish in 2012/13 and they have been mired in the fight to beat the Bundesliga drop since his premature sacking in September 2013.
The lessons from his glorious time at FCB remain with Fink, especially those learned working under storied head coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.
He said: “Ottmar Hitzfeld was a professional guy, who always worked at 100 per cent. You never felt he was weak, every time he had the same style.
“You saw the value of people management, building unity and team work. That is the most important thing for football.”
There is current precedent for a successful APOEL coach working in the UAE, Al Nasr’s Ivan Jovanovic lifting the 2014 GCC Club Cup to end a 12-year trophy drought and 2014/15 Arabian Gulf Cup.
“For this kind of career, Jovanovic also had big success at APOEL,” Fink said. “I saw he went to the UAE, maybe the same thing can happen to me.”
